Bridging the Gaps National Conference

October 18, 2007

Bridging the Gaps National Conference

In the United States, it is generally assumed that that getting a job is enough to make ends meet. But, in today’s labor market, where nearly a quarter of jobs pay low wages and offer no benefits, this couldn’t be further from the truth for millions of workers and their families. Work supports—programs to ensure that families can access basics, such as health care, child care, food, and housing—are supposed to fill in the gaps for families whose jobs don’t pay enough or offer adequate benefits. The Bridging the Gaps project finds that when accessible, these work supports are quite effective; however, their impact is limited by the number of working families who could use, but do not receive, these supports.

At the Bridging the Gaps conference, esteemed researchers and advocates debated how work supports should be structured in the future. What would be ideal? How could it happen politically? Panelists offered both big ideas and practical examples of how work supports can be designed to give all working families the opportunity to bridge the gaps between their earnings and a basic standard of living.